Governments plan to expedite land reform revealed
A multibillion-rand special purpose vehicle for land acquisition, the streamlining of legislation to fast track expropriations and the possible introduction of a land tax are part of government plans to speed up land reform.
And, according to a Business Day report, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana also signalled yesterday that measures to regulate the acquisition of land by foreigners were also in the pipeline. A land tax, especially for multiple landowners, was under discussion and the review of the willing buyer, willing seller principle of land acquisition had been finalised, the Minister said. The urgency of accelerating land reform demands that we adopt a multifaceted strategy, Xingwana said. The report notes that the land reform programme will need to accelerate if government is to meet its targets of transferring 30% of agricultural land to blacks by 2014; finalising its land restitution programme by next year; and eradicating or upgrading all informal settlements by 2014. Full Business Day report